A/N: Not a huge turnout for reviews last chapter, which is a touch disappointing, BUT we also just hit over 400 favs and 500 followers on this story, which is fucking INSANE. Thank you all for that. Would just like a few more reviews haha

Time for Chapter 12

Enjoy!


Naruto glanced to either side of himself to gauge the emotions of his fellow genin. All three were seated in a row across the couch of Tazuna's living room, and had been for several minutes waiting for Kakashi's exit from the nearby shower. They were all well aware of what was bound to be discussed, and each of them dreaded it for different reasons. For Naruto himself, it was the reality that they would almost certainly be encountering Zabuza once more. Helplessness was an unpleasant thing.

For Satsuki, though she veiled her emotions far more carefully, it was clear to all who knew her even somewhat that she despised the notion of being forced to rely on those around her for assistance again. Especially after having been unceremoniously saved from drowning by Naruto. Shikamaru's fears were less clear in origin, but they likely pertained to similar things as Naruto. A feeling of complete and utter uselessness in the face of danger. It was hardly any of their faults. They were a group of green, inexperienced children in an incredibly adult situation.

Genin were not expected to contend with such intense levels of raw strength, misdirection, and deception, and especially not all at once. Such tasks were generally reserved for Chunin, and seasoned ones at that. For the first time since their promotion to Genin, Team Seven fully appreciated the caution Hiruzen exercised in regards to assigning anything beyond mundane cleanup work. Many conversations had begun, stagnated, and fizzled out in their time on the couch. Unbearable as the silence was, there wasn't much to be said.

Finally, after a nearly rage-inducing stretch of fifteen minutes, Kakashi emerged from the leftmost hall wearing shorts, a tank top, and his usual mask. He also had a towel draped across his shoulders. Taking a seat on the chair just across from the couch, the Jonin cracked his stiff neck and cleared his throat to snap the genin from their boredom-induced trance.

"Forgive the wait. I had just as much thinking to do as all of you. Now, we're just going to jump right into it. After giving what Shikamaru theorized some hard thought, I'm gonna go ahead and say that I think he's spot on." he said as a lead. An uncomfortable shift worked through the group of genin.

"The evidence is overwhelming, and I'm not going to take any chances about this. You're sitting here right now to listen, so keep your mouths shut for the next little while. I'm going to go over who's doing what when we bring Tazuna to the bridge." he said. All three teens nodded and awaited instruction. Kakashi then folded his arms across his chest.

"The primary objective is to keep Tazuna alive. All else comes second to that goal. As such, the three of you are going to keep a similar formation to the one we used on the way here. Unlike before, though, you're going to be much closer to him." he started. When he was sure that his word had been fully processed by the genin before him, he continued speaking.

"The big wildcard is whether or not the hunter shows up. Zabuza is a given, and I'm more than ready to shut down his water clones this time around, but if he has help, the three of you are probably going to have to deal with the hunter yourselves." he said. Naruto raised his hand in response.

"If that hunter was able to knock Zabuza out of action, what the hell are we supposed to do? We couldn't even handle a pair of weak clones." he pointed out. Shikamaru shook his head and sat up a bit straighter.

"If the hunter was working with him, then Zabuza probably didn't bother defending himself when the needles went through him. We have no real way to know how strong this hunter is. It'd be better to assume that we can take them just for the sake of confidence." he corrected. Kakashi nodded and unfolded his arms.

"Exactly. I'm just as in the dark about that aspect of things as you are. If the hunter arrives, then Satsuki is going to be the first to engage them. She's the strongest, and should act as a solid measuring stick." he said, causing Naruto to grumble something under his breath that largely went unheard.

"What happens if we manage to kill them? Do we step in to help you with Zabuza?" she asked. The Jonin shook his head firmly and pointed to each of the genin.

"Under no circumstances are any of you to even think about intervening. Zabuza is mine and mine only. He'd kill all three of you before you could even take a breath." he said seriously. Before any of the Ninja could say any more, footsteps behind the couch caught their attention.

"Dinner is on, folks." Tazuna, who was pearing in from the kitchen, said. Kakashi nodded and looked back to his team.

"You know all that you need to. Stay in formation, and be cautious. Don't do anything rash, and you should be fine." he said. Shikamaru and Kakashi then rose to their feet and exited the living room, leaving only Satsuki and Naruto, who were both fairly deep in their own thoughts. Eventually, after a minute or two, Naruto stood up as well and began to walk away toward the kitchen. Before he could exit the room, however, he was stopped in his tracks.

"Do you think we're going to die, Naruto?"

The call had come from Satsuki, who was still seated on the couch with her legs folded over one another. Her tone was far from fearful, but it was hardly confident. It sounded numb. The blonde glanced back over his shoulder and considered his answer for several moments before replying.

"Probably not. Can't say why I think that, but I just don't feel like it's our time yet." he said honestly. The girl chewed her bottom lip absently and stood up with a stretch of her back, which cracked several times.

"The odds don't seem to be on our side, but I appreciate the optimism, even if it's a bit vague. I'd better make it through this. I've got things I need to do. Places I need to go." she said. Naruto shrugged and leaned against the wall near the door frame to face her more directly.

"Yeah, well, so do I. Being Hokage sort of requires me to be alive, as dumb as it is." he joked, earning a rare laugh from his usually-prickly teammate. Satsuki's features then took on a darker tone as she pondered something. Her gaze then returned to Naruto for a moment.

"And I can't kill a man from beyond the grave, inconvenient as that is." she said, reiterating Naruto's words to fit her own, much more unsettling thoughts. The blonde internally shuddered a bit as he recalled the first gathering of Team Seven atop the academy roof.

"There's somebody I'm going to kill. Somebody I need to get rid of. I'll be seeing that through. Sooner or later, I'll have a body at my feet."

He had somewhat forgotten Satsuki's disturbing declaration until the present moment, and now that he had been reminded, he found her steady stare in his direction more than a bit discomforting. Nodding reluctantly, Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"Y-Yeah, you'd definitely need to be alive for that." he said with an awkward laugh. The raven-haired girl chuckled and began walking in his direction. As she passed him to enter the kitchen, she gave his forehead a light flick with her nails without even a glance in his direction. The gesture caused Naruto to flinch.

'What the hell was that all about?' he wondered to himself as the spot on his forehead that her nails had grazed stung a bit. Shaking his head in resignation to the confusion, he rounded the corner to join the remainder of his team at the table.

The meal was nearly silent, as each person had their own reservations to ponder.


Satsuki wiped sweat from her brow as she laid flat on her back on the futon that had been provided to her. Despite the fairly moderate temperature outdoors, the interior of Tazuna's home had a tendency to grow oppressively hot at night. It made blankets entirely unnecessary, and perhaps even unadvisable. Exhaling through her nose, the Uchiha girl tugged at the collar of her cotton pajamas to remedy the heat even slightly.

'I should've just brought a nightgown. This is horrible.' she thought to herself in the humidity and heat. Cotton was a comfortable material to sleep in most of the time, but not when it was practically a convection oven indoors. Opting to take her thoughts to places other than the exorbitant amount of sweat dripping down her body, Satsuki returned herself to the gathering that had occurred roughly two hours prior.

'Not even Kakashi is sure of what's going to happen. We leave for the bridge tomorrow morning, and we still only have half of a plan, if that.' she thought to herself. It was a grim proposition. With a massive pool of evidence to suggest that Zabuza was still alive, there was absolutely no reason to believe that the next day would be anything but hellish. Combat, blood, and adrenaline. That was what awaited them. None of which was healthy in extreme doses.

'If we're lucky, we'll just end up sitting back and watching Kakashi deal with Zabuza, but I have a strong feeling that this hunter is going to show up. If that happens...it falls to me.' she pondered. To be the first one the front lines when push came to shove was a burden to be sure, and one that she very much wished she could welcome, but in the back of her mind, doubts nagged at her relentlessly.

"Even if you'd come sooner, there's nothing you could've done, foolish sister."

The repressed memory sent a jolt through Satsuki, causing her to drag her hand over her face to cover her eyes as she forcibly pushed it back down. Unlike her most recent relapse before the mirror in her bathroom, she managed to regain herself before any images could sweep across her mind's eye. Despite the lack of visuals, the emotions remained the same.

'When have I ever...protected somebody?' she questioned within her mind with her eyes still veiled by her slightly-shaking hand. She quickly recalled her team's encounter with the Demon Brother's during their trek to the Land of Waves, in which she had prevented Naruto from being decapitated. Though she initially drew solace from the knowledge that she had succeeded in saving a life, she quickly tore it down.

'Kakashi is the only reason we weren't torn to pieces. I would have been worthless against them. Next time out, Naruto had to get physical with me to make sure I didn't drown.' she admitted to herself. Her grip on her temples then tightened.

'What makes you qualified to hold their lives in your hands? If you can't do it, then neither can they, and you were just as helpless as they were last time out.' she reprimanded herself. Then, in spite of a herculean effort to stop them, the images of the night she had so long been tormented by flooded back.

"You've never protected a damn thing. You can't." she hissed aloud in a moment of bitter self-loathing. The world was far larger than she'd ever considered, and along with that scale came giants the magnitude of which Satsuki had no way to contend with. Not as she was. She badly needed to grow stronger, and she hadn't the time to do so before the morning would come. For the first time in years, she was well and truly afraid. She despised it utterly.

'Just a little girl in over her head again. Just like before.' she thought to herself in a state of resigned frustration. Before she could sink any deeper into her own negativity, a knock came at her door. Unveiling her eyes, which had been clamped shut, Satsuki spoke.

"I'm tired, so make it quick." she called out somewhat hoarsely. The door then slid open just enough to reveal the person on the other side. It was Naruto, who also looked quite tired.

"Shikamaru went out again. Not sure why, but I'm starting to get a little worried. Wanted to know if you wanted to come with." he explained. Satsuki stared at him through her hazed vision for several moments. The light streaming in from behind him was straining, but it was a welcome escape from the dark of her lampless room.

"I'll pass. I need to sleep." she replied after a time. The blonde nodded and pulled up the light jacket he was wearing over his shoulders a bit more.

"I figured. Just wanted to ask. I'll try not to wake you up on the way back in." he said before quietly sliding her door shut and audibly exiting the house a moment later. As the silence set back in around her, Satsuki found a new emotion to latch onto, and held fast to it. With all the mental strength she had remaining, she forcibly banished her bitterness for the time being.

"I'll protect them this time. No matter what it costs me."


Haku smiled to herself as she meandered about in the region of the forest she had more or less claimed as her territory in her short time inhabiting the Land of Waves. There were plenty of clearings, a wealth of flowers, and it tended to stay relatively dry. The night was pleasantly warm without being overly stuffy, and for once, the moon was peaking its way through the treetops.

'What a lovely night.' she thought to herself contentedly. A firefly then skittered past her face, drawing a wider grin from the girl. She had scarcely encountered the insect before, but she had read plenty about it in an encyclopedia she had stolen from a library in her travels several years prior. She then began to lightly jog after the firefly in an attempt to catch it. She knew it was largely a futile effort, but that fact did not alter the level of entertainment she drew from the activity.

"Oh, come here you." she whined aloud as the firefly retreated higher above her head. With one final jump, Haku swiped at the bug. Much to her delight, she was able to trap the firefly in her cupped hands.

"You certainly made me work for it." she scolded the firefly as it frantically flashed and flew about in her hands. Eventually, after several minutes of fondly studying the small creature, Haku opened her hands and released it to the sky above. As its flash faded away to the night, she let out a sigh.

"So beautiful." she breathed to herself. She had long been enamored by nature for its sheer innocence. Nature knew no true evil. Only instinct and innocence. The purest of truths.

"Chasing fireflies? What are you, a dog?"

Haku immediately scanned her surroundings to locate the origin of the voice. She quickly found it in plain sight, a few meters directly in front of her. Upon identifying the owner, she relaxed somewhat.

"Watching me again? What are you, a stalker?" she shot back at Shikamaru, who stood leaned up against a nearby tree. The Nara shrugged his shoulders and returned his weight to his front foot before stepping away from the tree.

"I was relaxing here first, actually. You just so happened to come wandering by. It made for a good show." he said jokingly. Haku rolled her eyes and snapped a stick under her foot.

"Did you come looking for me? Be honest." she asked directly. Much to her own surprise, when the genin shook his head, Haku found that she was more than a bit disappointed.

"Not really. I just like my walks." he said, drawing a somewhat dejected nod from Haku. He then spoke again a half beat later.

"But finding you out here isn't really...a bad thing. You're a decent talker." he added. The girl smiled and turned her gaze up to the moon.

"You chose a good night to walk. It's very pretty. The stars especially." she said. Shikamaru took a glance up at the sky and rubbed one of his eyes to clear whatever was plaguing it away.

"Eh, it's a little clear for my liking. I'm not a huge stargazer. Clouds are more interesting to look at. They change more." he said. Haku shook her head and continued to admire the open sky through the gap in the trees.

"The fact that the stars and constellations never change is exactly why I love them. I can rely on them to always be there, ever still." she said . Shikamaru chuckled a bit.

"Some poet you are." he said humorously. Haku closed her eyes as a wind blew across the forest and set leaves up around them.

"Consistency is a luxury I've never had for one reason or another. Call me melodramatic, but the sky has been my closest friend for about as long as I can remember." she said openly. The Nara furrowed his brow and studied her silently for a few seconds.

"You said earlier that you have a father. Aren't you close to him?" he asked skeptically. Haku opened her eyes once more and lowered them to the ground. A slight look of reminiscent melancholy then crossed her features.

"I'm not his biological daughter. He was kind enough to save me from the life of an orphan, and he taught me how to live, but beyond that...I've never been sure of whether or not he actually cares for me. He can be quite cold." she said. It was the closest thing to genuine honesty she could manage while still maintaining her false identity. She then looked back up to Shikamaru, who wore a fairly ambiguous expression.

"Fathers can be a little bit detached sometimes. I know mine can be. I don't know yours, and probably never will, but I doubt he doesn't care if he took the trouble to adopt you, Haku." he said a tad more gently than he normally intimated. A pang of guilt then rang through the girl's chest.

'Oh, you'll know Zabuza-sama well. Better than you'd like to.' she thought to herself darkly. Shelving the depressing through, Haku allowed herself to take a bit of comfort from his words. Thinking it better to keep her gratitude to herself for the time being, she focused on a more minor aspect of his response.

"That's the first time you've said my name." she commented. Shikamaru blinked at the revelation and scratched the back of his head.

"Did I say it right? Seems pretty easy to me, but you never know." he asked. Haku nodded and brushed a few scraps of leaf from her sundress to return it to its flawless state.

"Yes, perfectly. It's only two syllables, so I'd be concerned if you didn't get it right on your first try. Yours is much more difficult. Four entire syllables." she teased casually. Shikamaru glanced away from her.

"It's family tradition. All of the men have the same prefix in their name." he said defensively. Haku giggled at his discomfort and took in the scent of the forest.

"What about the women?" she asked. Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders and looked back at her once again.

"Same thing, but we don't really produce many women. Most children born from us are male. Not sure why, but that's how it is." he said. Haku tilted her head off to one side coyly.

"I'm surprised you produce enough children to have a reliable statistic on gender. If the men are all like you, then I find it hard to believe that they're decisive enough to get married." she said jabbingly. It was a harsher joke than her previous tickling remarks, but the genin had proven himself to be thick-skinned.

"Yeah, well, getting married sounds like a lot of work anyway. Besides, women tire me the hell out. They always make me do stuff." he grumbled. Haku raised an eyebrow.

"Do I tire you out? I've tried quite hard to be polite." she asked. Shikamaru eyed her boredly and assessed her momentarily.

"You definitely would given time. You made me sit around and pick flowers with you for a whole hour. I only did it because you said there'd be a reward, and all I got was three slices of bread." he said bluntly. Haku gave a fake pout.

"It was good bread. I baked it myself. You're cruel." she whined, drawing a roll of Shikamaru's eyes in response.

"Sure you did. Tasted store-bought to me. That aside, the flower-picking was definitely exhausting." he said. Haku considered a number of responses.

'I may as well have as much fun as I can. Time is short. I can feel it.' she thought to herself. A smirk then crossed her lips as she took several steps forward.

"What kind of reward were you expecting? Something more...interesting?" she inquired as she drew closer. Shikamaru gave her an uncomfortable look.

"No, just something better than bread." he said. Haku raised an eyebrow and kept her eyes fixed on him as she soaked up his obvious unease.

"That could be a lot of things, Shikamaru. Would you mind elaborating for me?" she asked innocently. When he didn't respond within a reasonable frame of time, Haku stepped forward one more time.

"Are you too embarrassed to admit what was on your mind? How improper of you. Thinking such things of an innocent, defenseless girl like me." she scolded him. The Nara reddened and stumbled back a step.

"Back off. My mind wasn't in the gutter." he countered. At his stumble and weak retort, Haku burst out laughing with more force than she was used to. After taking a few moments to recover while leaning on a tree to keep her balance, Haku flopped to her back.

"Forgive me, that was mean. I just had to push your buttons a little. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time." she apologized between left over giggles. Shikamaru sighed tiredly and looked down at her.

"You suck, you know that?" he said. Haku grinned and hopped back to her feet, caring not one bit about the leaves and twigs caught in her hair from her unceremonious fall to the forest floor.

"Maybe, but I got a kick out of it, so I don't care. You're so prickly. It's adorable." she said without a care in the world. Shikamaru slid his hands into his pockets.

"Yeah, and you snort when you laugh." he said, drawing a look of embarrassment from the girl. Haku patted her cheeks to suppress their rising heat.

"Don't mock what I can't control." she mumbled. Shikamaru put his hands up in a gesture of faux defensiveness.

"You reap what you sow. I'm not just gonna roll over and let you make fun of me." he said calmly. Haku sighed and nodded in agreement.

"I suppose that's fair." she admitted. She then looked back up at the moon, which seemed to have grown a bit brighter over time.

'How long has it been since I've felt this stressless? I can't recall another time.' she pondered silently. Pushing away the thoughts of what was to come, Haku let herself enjoy the feeling despite the knowledge that it would soon go up in flames.

"Hey, Haku." came the voice of Shikamaru, bringing her eyes down from the sky. The girl met his gaze curiously and gestured for him to continue.

"I know this'll sound weird coming from me, but...thanks for this. I know I've complained a bunch, but screwing around with you out here has honestly been a great distraction from what I'm really here to do." the genin said candidly. His face then contorted into a look of apprehension.

"Maybe I shouldn't tell you this, but my team and I are set to start our main mission tomorrow, and, well, we almost got killed a few days back for trying the same thing. It's been weighing on me. The idea that I could die soon, I mean." he said honestly. Haku fought the urge to cover her mouth. Shikamaru then chuckled dryly.

"But hey, what can you do? It's part of the job. At least I can say I died 'honorably' or whatever. Or maybe it won't come to that. There's no way to know for sure, but either way, this is probably the last you'll see of me." he continued. Then, finally, he smiled.

"So thank you. You made this trip a little easier for me. I appreciate it. You're a cool person." he concluded. Against the voice of reason screaming at her from every corner of her mind, Haku did as her emotions instructed. She reached out, and practically fell forward. Within the next moment, she was tightly wrapped around his abdomen with her arms tangled behind his back.

"H-Hey, what's your deal?" Shikamaru stammered awkwardly. Finding that she had no voice with which to answer, and very little clarity to begin with, Haku kept her mouth closed and her eyes clamped shut as she squeezed the closest thing to a friend she had managed to make in many years. Though it was blatantly obvious that Shikamaru was neither comfortable with nor fully accepting of the embrace, he made no move to end it. The unexpected tie-up was soon interrupted by a new arrival.

"Oh, so that's why you've been sneaking out. This is just precious."

Haku didn't recognize the voice in any way at all, but through inference, she easily deduced who it belonged to. It was the voice of Shikamaru's male teammate, who had been stranded on the bank during Zabuza's battle against Kakashi.

"It's not what you're thinking, Naruto. I've already dealt with enough jokes tonight." Shikamaru said tiredly. The new boy, apparently named Naruto, took an audible step forward.

"Sure, whatever you say. But you should probably be wrapping...whatever this is up soon. It's late as hell. You need the rest." he reasoned. As Haku had immediately dreaded upon hearing Naruto speak, Shikamaru gently pried her from his body and held her in place by her shoulders.

"I've, uh, gotta go. He's right. I need the sleep." he said gently, clearly sensing that she was anything but happy about the development. Nodding weakly, Haku stepped to the side and kept her eyes downcast as Shikamaru jogged to catch up with Naruto, who had started leaving without him. Once the boys were well and truly gone, Haku melted down to her knees.

"Why? Why did you have to run your mouth?" she whispered to the long-gone boy she had come to so enjoy. She had been fully in tune with the reality that their reckoning would come soon, but the fact that it would be taking place in mere hours had struck her like a spear. She wasn't ready. Not remotely. She had been afforded no time to sort her emotions, numb herself, or anything like it. The emotional wound would be fresh and raw.

"I can't lie to Zabuza-sama. He'll see right through me. He'll know right away." she said aloud, not bothering to keep her thoughts silent any longer. Then, despite her best efforts and against her own wishes, tears began to leak from her eyes.

"It just isn't fair. Why am I not allowed to have even a single friend? Why does everybody and everything I touch go away?" she whimpered tearfully to the silent earth around her. Years of frustration, pain, and sadness had finally worked their way to the surface. A bitter laugh then echoed from her lungs.

"And how pathetic am I? I had three conversations with him. Only three. That's all it took to drive me in too deep. I'm just a desperate wretch." she berated herself. She then shook her head and buried her face in her hands.

"Fathers can be a little bit detached sometimes. I know mine can be. I don't know yours, and probably never will, but I doubt he doesn't care if he took the trouble to adopt you, Haku."

"I'm a tool, Shikamaru. I always have been, I always will be." she hissed bitterly. While she held no genuine ire for Zabuza himself, as doing so would be immensely selfish given that he was entirely the reason she was alive in the first place, she utterly despised her own reality.

"You're a cool person."

Haku shook her head once again, but this time more rapidly, almost as though she was trying to shake the words from her psyche entirely.

"I'm not...even a person." Haku whispered hoarsely. Fresh out of tears, she peeled her hands from her damp face and looked to the moon one final time with a quivering bottom lip.

"I'll kill you gently, Shikamaru. You're mine tomorrow."


A/N: Long chapters are cool to write, so I hope you've liked the increase in length. BRIDGE CHAPTER TOMORROW. That one will be very fun, and I may have to split that scene into two chapters, because it'll be packed full of events in and of itself.

I hope you all liked this chapter. Tell me what you thought in a review :)

See you next chapter! Read and Review!